Providing animals with various dietary supplements and medications such as vitamins, minerals, enzymes, hormones, and antibiotics is a common and well known practice in the livestock and poultry industries. The manner in which these supplements are mixed together and added to a consumptive fluid carrier such as water is disclosed in a number of patents to Pratt including the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,889,443; 4,815,042; 4,733,971; and 5,219,224.
In these references as well as many others, it is known to utilize automated systems which dispense discrete amounts of micro-ingredients, mix the micro-ingredients, and then deliver the micro-ingredients to a feed ration, typically in a slurry mixture form. The prepared slurry may be fed directly to the animals, or may be added to the animal feed rations using mixing or spraying methods.
Most animal feed supplements include pharmaceuticals, and mixing these pharmaceuticals with animal feed causes them to be subject to the regulations of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Accordingly, the locations which produce these medicated feeds must maintain compliance with FDA regulations, and such locations are routinely inspected by FDA personnel. Therefore, it is imperative that the equipment used in the processes be capable of accurately and precisely metering, dispensing and mixing quantities of the micro-ingredients.
One focus for many of the prior art references which disclose equipment used for dispensing and mixing micro-ingredients is to improve accuracy and precision in delivering the micro-ingredients. One particular disadvantage with many of the prior art systems is that although they may be able to accurately and precisely dispense and mix micro-ingredients, such systems are overly complex, and are difficult to clean and maintain.
One step in traditional approaches of manipulating micro-ingredients which can be eliminated or at least simplified is the mixing of the micro-ingredients prior to addition of the micro-ingredients to a feed ration. Feed rations are typically stored in large batch-feed mixers prior to delivery of the rations to a feed truck which then distributes the feed to bunk feeders for consumption by animals. It has been found through various trials that mixing of the feed ration which inherently takes place at the batch feed mixers is in most instances adequate for also mixing and dispersing micro-ingredients throughout the feed ration. By requiring use of a mixer within a micro-ingredient dispensing system, the mixer itself is an additional piece of equipment which must be maintained and cleaned, and adds to the overall cost and complexity of the system.
Accordingly, one important object of the present invention is to provide a micro-ingredient delivery system that is capable of accurately and precisely manipulating the micro-ingredients for delivery to a feed ration, but such a system is easier to clean, maintain, and is also made simpler either by elimination of one or more pieces of mixing equipment, or by simplifying mixing if required by utilizing static mixing techniques.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a micro-ingredient delivery system that pneumatically conveys the micro-ingredients thereby eliminating the need to create a slurry mixture for delivery of the micro-ingredients to a desired location such as a feed mixer.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a micro-ingredient delivery system that is conducive to automation through the use of a computer or industrial Programmable Logic Controller (PLC).
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a micro-ingredient delivery system whereby accurate records may be kept to comply with FDA regulations.